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Alternative Title

Test and Reliability of Flash Memories

Abstract

In recent years, non-volatile Flash memories have been widely used on system on chip. Their high integration density and complexity of manufacturing process make the Flash memory prone to defects. The defects in the memory are one of the major issues. They could affect the performance, retention, endurance, and therefore the reliability of Flash memories. This thesis was focused on the analysis of failure mechanisms, the faulty behavior modeling and the development of solution in order to improve the testing of Flash memories. In this work, we have proposed an electrical SPICE model of an ATMEL Flash memory. Compared with the state of art, the proposed model allows to simulate the static and dynamic behavior of the memory. This model is used to perform defect injection simulations affecting the Flash memories. These simulations are able to predict faulty behavior by fault modeling. Other types of electrical simulations highlight two characterization methods. The first one is able to detect the oxide thickness variations of the memory cells; the second one allows to characterize the programming pulse and then predict the electric field value during the programming of the cell.